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Fifa to make World Cup decision in October

Sepp Blatter in favour of playing 2022 tournament in Qatar in the winter

Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 13:17

Sepp Blatter: “You can cool down the stadiums, but you can’t cool down the whole country.”

Fifa’s executive committee will convene in October to discuss the issue of playing the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in the winter, the world governing body has announced.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter yesterday confronted the issue of playing in the searing June heat of Qatar by stating he believed it could not take place in the summer.

A Fifa spokesman said today: “As mentioned by the Fifa president yesterday, he will bring forward the matter of playing the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar in winter to the Fifa executive committee on the occasion of their next meeting scheduled for October 3rd and 4th, 2013.

“This matter will now be with the executive committee and we can therefore not comment further before the meeting has taken place.”

Blatter has been moving towards the idea of a winter World Cup for several months, and said yesterday: “If this World Cup is to become a party for the people, you can’t play football in the summer. You can cool down the stadiums, but you can’t cool down the whole country.”

The English Premier League today described the proposals as “neither workable nor desirable” on the grounds it will cause major disruption to three domestic seasons — the 2021/22 campaign and the ones either side — as well as impacting on broadcasting contracts.

A Premier League spokesman said: “The Premier League position remains unchanged. The prospect of a winter World Cup is neither workable nor desirable for European domestic football.”

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